


The Girl with Pink Carnations in her Hair

by Cactaceae28



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Bittersweet, Dialogue-Only, F/M, Gen, Post-Canon, Regret, Trektober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:06:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27109210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cactaceae28/pseuds/Cactaceae28
Summary: Years later, an old dream is made reality.
Relationships: Jake Sisko/Tora Ziyal, Nog & Jake Sisko
Comments: 10
Kudos: 21
Collections: Trektober 2020





	The Girl with Pink Carnations in her Hair

**Author's Note:**

> For Trektober 2020 Day 19: Love Confessions

“Jake! Comm! It’s Nog!”

“Coming!”

***click***

“Hello, _Commander_ Nog.”

_“How long have you been waiting to use that line?”_

“When were you going to tell your best friend that you had been promoted to the _Reliant_?”

_“I’m sorry, I’ve been busy.”_

“Hey, no worries. I was just pulling your leg.”

_“You are hilarious. Are you sure Korenna hasn’t come to her senses yet about you? She can elope with me whenever she wants.”_

“Ha ha ha. So, did you want anything else, or were you calling just to be shot down?”

_“Actually… I had some leave coming up, and the_ Reliant _has to be refitted anyway so I was planning on going to Earth. I can sleep at yours, right?”_

“Of course, you don’t have to ask.”

_“Perfect, then I’ll be there by Friday, does that work for you?”_

“Absolutely.”

_“…”_

“Is something wrong?”

_“… Jake, I saw it. Your new book.”_

“Ah…”

_“And you don’t want to know how many people who know we’re friends have come to ask me about it! A children’s storybook from_ the _Jake Sisko? No one was expecting that, that’s for sure. I downloaded a copy as soon as I could.”_

“I would have given you one whenever you wanted, you know that.”

_“Yes, yes, I know. How did you even convince that small-lobed publisher they gave you to go for it? I doubt he didn’t find anything to complain about.”_

“Martin wanted me to commission someone to replace the drawings that she couldn’t finish. He said it was unprofessional to leave it half-way done and that it wouldn’t sell. Korenna just about hit the roof when I told her.”

_“I can imagine. So? How did you convince him?”_

“I promised to write that novella for Anslem that he has been pestering me about.”

_“I’m telling you, you should just fire him.”_

“I can’t fire him, I’m not his boss. Besides, he’s not so bad.”

_“I’m going to refrain from answering to that.”_

“Ha.”

_“Laugh all you want, I’ve learnt my lesson about trying to get you to think like a Ferengi. You Federation types never learn, it’s a wonder you’ve survived this far.”_

“Is that what your uncle says?”

_“Very funny.”_

“Sorry, sorry…”

_“…”_

_“…_ So. What did you think? About the book?”

_“… It’s great, really great. She would have loved it.”_

“… You sure?”

_“I’m sure. Though honestly, I’m surprised you even remembered that dumb story. We were… what, nineteen? Twenty? It was just before the war, wasn’t it?”_

“Just about. We offered to babysit Molly for a night because Yoshi was in that phase when he wouldn’t stop crying.”

_“The four of us made a pillow fort in our quarters and we made up stories until she fell asleep. I never knew Ziyal was illustrating them.”_

“It was something she showed me later, after she had done two or three drawings. We were planning to gift Molly this story for her birthday, so we kept it just between the two of us. It was going to be a trial run, to see if we could create something worth publishing professionally. But then…”

_“Yeah. I know.”_

“We could have been…”

“ _I know._ ”

“I never told her.”

“ _I know. I’m so sorry._ ”

“…”

“…”

“…”

_“What did Molly say? Has she seen it yet?”_

“I told her before I sent it to my editor.”

_“Jake…”_

“Molly… she was ecstatic. She even came over to help me pick a cover, I think my ears haven’t recovered yet. And then she set out to hunt down even more of Ziyal’s art from people who knew her.”

“ _Is that why Dad asked me if we had any of it saved somewhere?”_

“I guess. Kira and Dax have already sent back a folder worth of them and Garak and doctor Bashir sent another two dozen. I’m… actually thinking about creating an anthology of flash fiction; get all of them published as well.”

_“I think that’s a great idea. I’ll see what I can find then.”_

“Even if she can never read those stories it seems… the least I can do.”

_“It’s more than that. I—”_

“Nog?”

_“Jake, I have to go, the captain’s calling. We’ll talk more about this when I get there, ok?”_

“… Of course, yeah. See you soon.”

_“See you soon. And, Jake?”_

“Yes?”

_“You did good Jake.”_

“Thanks. Really, thank you.”

_“Take care.”_

“Yea.”

***click***

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_From the award-winning author of Anslem,_

**The Girl with Pink Carnations in her Hair**

Story by Jake Sisko

Art by Tora Ziyal

_In memory of Ziyal,_

_Who brought the world in these pages to life_

_And_

_Who was always brave enough to smile._

_You were the first girl I truly loved._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts :D


End file.
